Out of idle curiosity i used a web site to translate the circolacalabrese form letter i had sent to italy.....the translation made very little sense.
is this form letter reliable? or is it the computer translation?

Free translation does not make a mess and as usual your cleverly misunderstanding just about everything..the lifeguard in the geenpool was indeed asleep at the switch. As I said before a conclusion is the place where you got tired of thuinking. ...Never mind About pomposity of the form letters. The pompous are attracted to one another. Peter

Did you actually bother to see what wldspirit was talking about before dismissing her question? The answer to your "why would you want to translate it at all?" was at the very head of her question: "Out of idle curiosity"

This is the english form letter from circolocalabrese:

Dear Gentlemen, My name is [your name], and I live in the United States at the above-stated address. I am searching for information regarding my great great grandfather Pietro. He was born in the commune of [town name]. I am requesting this information to find out more about my family, and to find my relatives who remained in Italy.I would be very grateful if you could mail me the birth certificate for [ancestor's name] on non-legal paper.He was born about 1850. He / She He/She married Chiara about 1870.I thank you beforehand for your kindness and efficiency, and I ask you to charge me for the postal expenses and for the certificates.[your name]

Distinguished Mister, I call Myself Your Name, and clothing in the United States to the above-mentioned address. I seek information on my great-great-grandfather, Pietro. Been born in the commune of Town Name. I seek these data to know better my family, and to find my relatives you rhymed in Italy. Yourselves very grateful sarei if been able to send me the summary of the action of birth of Pietro, in free card. Been born verse 1850. Married Clear about 1870. I thank yourselves in anticipation for your courtesy and haste, and pray to debit yourselves me all the postal expenditures and of the certificates. Different greetings,

In my humble opinion the Italian used is a bit flowery, but I fully accept that this style of writing gets results when dealing with bureaucrats. I also accept that this is a reasonable translation of the preceding English.

Do you really consider the translation back into English to be acceptable?

English to Italian is the usual process from this country to to Italy and while the translation to english is not really to my liking either, its an academic matter having no real relevance since any replies from Italy can be translated from Italian to english and understood even though it might be awkward english., it will be understood. So there put that in your hairdo and comb it. (on the assumption you have a sense of humor). Peter

First of all, I did not mean to start world war 3, as I stated, out of "idle curiosity" I used babelfish to translate the form letter from Italian to English, and like DeliBoy's translation it sounded somewhat absurd. Thank you DeliBoy. I now know that these translations are not completely accurate and are not to be relied upon. Lesson learned.

Accuracy for what you want requires knowledge of the language and if you want that then you can pay www.freetranslation.com a modest sum for that accuracy. Perhaps you can always rely upon persons of linguist accomplishment to translate for you which I do not think is fair since there are a lot of people who do not know Italian language and would love to have accurate translation. I have always turned down translation requests other than a phrase or a word translation but thats about it. I can read the gay 90's script of old having skilled myself in the methodology used in wiriting at that time on the continent and in the USA. Me thinks wild spirit that you are asking a lot for not knowing the language yourself. There might be a website out there that will be more acceptable and hopefully you will find it bujt thjis is the best I found FREE of charge. Peter

I do not expect someone to provide me with free translation, and if I want something transcribed professionally, then I will gladly pay for that service locally.
I wouldn't even think to ask or expect you to transcribe anything for me, and I certaintly do not recall implying I did.
Again, I used the site out of idle curiosity only!!
My understanding of the language is indeed limited, unlike the two generations before me. A situation I will soon remedy.